In the high performance world of manufacturing, where a micron can be the difference between success and catastrophic failure, not all machining processes are made equal. For engineers, the decision on what kind of manufacturing technology to use for components in categories such as automotive, aerospace, medical and other mission-critical use cases, is one of the most foundational design choices. While standard CNC machining has it’s place, it often shows its weaknesses in situations that require long, slender, complex parts with astronomical volumes and tolerances at sub-micron levels.
This is when the chemical engineering technique of a swiss machining service shines. Starting with the watch-making industry’s hunger to satisfy miniaturization and precision, the swiss-type lathe(or swiss screw machine) is a feat of mechanical engineering which solves a different set of manufacturing problems.
The Engineering Concept: Guided Support and Simultaneous Machining
The key innovation of a swiss style lathe is the sliding headstock and guide bushing. Normally with a conventional lathe, the work piece is stationary and the tool moves, whereas with a swiss machine, the bar stock is fed axially through an precisely hardened guide bushing, and the cutting tools are radial very close to this bushing.
This very simple and brilliant mechanical principle has very practical consequences.
Elimination of Deflection: The guide bushing gives firm support right at the cutting point, and therefore removes the deflection cutting force that occurs during the production of long, small diameter components on a conventional lathe point, which enables extreme accuracy along the entire length of the component.
Unprecedented Complexity in a Setup: Modern CNC Swiss machines are equipped with live tools, secondary spindles, and Y axis. This enables swiss machining services of complex swiss machine components with unsurpassed efficiency, by means of milling, drilling, cross tapping, and off center operations – all in one continuous cycle – avoiding the time, cost and errors associated with having components to setup on multiple machines.
For a swiss machining manufacturer, this supplemental means that they can manufacture complex, high accuracy components in a timely and cost a solution – especially if they run production volumes are high.
The Importance of Swiss Machining in Automotive and Industrial Applications
The automotive and industrial markets are centered around performance, efficiency, and reliability. Specifically, Swiss machine products are utilized to meet that requirement and can be found in the most stringent subsystems.
- Fuel Systems and Emissions: The bodies of high-pressure fuel injectors, pinch pins, and even sensor housings all require the tolerances and fine surface finishes that CNC Swiss machining is able to supply. Any amount of reliability concerns will greatly impede engine performance and emissions standards that must be met.
- Safety and Braking Systems: Parts that reside in things like anti-lock braking systems (ABS) and electronic stability control (ESC) systems are commonly manufactured in screw machine shops utilizing the Swiss machining process. The impact of dimensional integrity demonstrated in these sorts of safety-of-life systems are emphasized due to the safety element.
- Transmission & Powertrain: Small complex shafts, pins, and connectors that exist inside transmissions take advantage of the Swiss process’s ability to perform precise operations on hardened materials.
- Industrial Automation/Robotics: Industry 4.0 requires fine tuned reliable components. Actuator shafts, coupling bodies, and sensor leads produced by screw machines (Swiss lathes) provide a reasonable history regarding repeatability and longevity for an actuator/robotic arm of an automated cell.
- Choosing and Sourcing: Deciding to source these components from a particular supplier is an engineering partnership-level decision, it is not just a procurement selection. The best machine shop will be able to provide Design for Manufacturability (DFM) feedback from the beginning, alluding to slight enhancements of radii, tolerances or material choices and adjusting cost in ways that improve capability to manufacture through producing an assemblable product that performs its function in mind for cost/time efficiency in mind.
Selecting Your Manufacturing Partner: An Engineer’s Guide
Not all screw machine manufacturing companies have the same capabilities and ‘cultural’ mindset. Here are some technical aspects to look at when considering a partner for your screw machine products:
- Machine Portfolio: Do they use modern & multi-axis Swiss-type lathes with live tooling, and secondary spindles? This should be the baseline for more complex work.
- Material: Do they know how to machine not just brass & aluminum, alloy specialty machining all the way to stainless steels and high-temperature plastics used in automotive and industrial applications?
- Secondary Operations: A true turnkey partner will have secondary operations in-house for plated, passivated, heat treated, and sometimes finisher operations to maintain control of the part with regards to either quality or lead time.
- Metrology & Quality: Have them provide evidence of a strong quality. They should be using statistical process controls (SPC) and also have advanced metrology equipment like optical comparators and CMM’s measuring & verifying first-article and in-process inspection.
Ultimately, you want to try and find a supplier that will become more than just a vendor for you, but instead be an extension of your engineering team, and a provider of ways of approaching production, not just parts.
In closure, “screw machine products inc” sounds old-fashioned and dated, the technology behind it is anything but. Nowadays, Swiss machining services are on top of what manufacturing engineering can provide in exchange for precision, efficiency, and reliability for replacement products to which modern industries cannot do without. By understanding the fundamentals and applications of it, engineers will make much more enlightened decisions that provide better products and more reliable supply chains.
